Edinburgh welcomes Cafédirect Container House

posted at 1:28pm, 02 Sep 10 by Yasmin [ 0 comments ]

The Cafédirect Container House popped-up in the gorgeous city of Edinburgh for the last ten days of the Fringe Festival. We were right in the heart of the action near McEwan Hall, Udderbelly’s Pasture and The Pleasance Dome.

This is the first time that the Container House has travelled up to Scotland and we were excited to meet Cafédirect fans and first-time tasters in Edinburgh.

As well as tasting two of our single origin coffees, the Container House also became a popular pit stop for comedians, actors, production crews and festivalgoers too.

Here’s a snapshot of our ten days in Scotland …

Jennifer Coolidge drops by Cafédirect Container House for a well-earned coffee after her sold-out shows

Toasting their Cafédirect with Scottish Style

Basketball team from Franklin & Marshall, Pennysylvania refuel with before they take on the Edinburgh Kings. I think they chose Kilimanjaro because it goes with their outfits...

You can see more photos from the Container House at all other locations on flickr and facebook. Don’t forget to tag if you spot yourself or a friend!

We had so much fun in Edinburgh (and not just because it was a comedy festival!). Massive thanks to the University of Edinburgh, Shareholder & Friend of Cafédirect Ben Miller who gave his insider Edinburgh knowledge and all of the Container House visitors who spread the word about Cafédirect whilst we there!

NEXT STOP: Big Sussex Market, New Road, Brighton 11th and 12th September. See you there!

Friday Fun – Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Special!

posted at 9:53am, 27 Aug 10 by Alex [ 16 comments ]

The Cafédirect Container House is in Edinburgh this week for The Fringe – come and find us in situated near Udderbelly and McEwan Hall. So it’s only right that today’s fun is comedy themed!

Cafedirect Container House at The Fringe

In the comments box below, share with us your funniest Cafédirect related joke, or even a funny story you’ve had with coffee – hopefully funnier than the experience we had yesterday when we made cappuccinos with sour milk – nobody was laughing after that!

Take some inspiration from the Fringe’s funniest jokes won by Tim Vine’s effort: “I’ve just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I’ll tell you what, never again.” or even the Fringe’s “worst joke” which I did chuckle to ‘won’ by Dan Antopolski’s; “Hedgehogs – why can’t they just share the hedge?”

Don’t worry, Yasmin tells me from Edinburgh that our coffee at the Container House is not like the comedy; it’s very tasteful, has a punchy kick and leaves you with a warm glow!

The rules are simple; Post your comedy entry in the comment box of this blog post by 5.30pm today – enter more than once if you like! The best (as decided by the Cafédirect judges) will be chosen and announced on the blog next week. We’ll send some Cafédirect Machu Picchu and Kilimanjaro to the person with the winning comment. Prizes can only be sent to a UK or Republic of Ireland postal address. Share the link with your friends to get some competition going!

Good luck!

Next week’s fun will be the last one – so enjoy it while it lasts!!! We have lots of other fun posts planned though so don’t worry, the fun will live on!

Sow Your Own on the radio!

posted at 4:39pm, 26 Aug 10 by Siobhan [ 0 comments ]

If you’ve been listening to the radio recently you may have heard Tim Maddams, Head Chef at River Cottage Canteen, and our friend Rocket Rob talking about our Sow Your Own campaign. Rob and Tim have been busy entertaining listeners around the country with their stories and useful hints and tips on all things related to growing and cooking your own produce.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's mixing bowl

Tim loves working with fresh, local produce. They have a big garden at River Cottage HQ which inspires him every day to come up with interesting and tasty recipes. Here’s a tip for all of you growing basil from Rocket Rob -  if you’re growing basil its best to water in the mid day heat, not in the morning when it’s chilly.  The main piece of advice from both was don’t be afraid to get growing! Grab any household item, a shoe, a handbag, a tea-cup, throw in some compost and seeds, keep it watered and watch your produce flourish!

If you haven’t heard them yet you can catch them here on BBC Stoke (go to 1hr 43 mins)or tune into any of the following programmes:
•     Dune 107.9: Friday 27th August, 8.15am
•     BCB 106.6 FM: Friday 27th August, 11.15am
•     BBC Cornwall: Saturday 28th August, 9am-12pm

You only have a few days left to enter our Sow Your Own competition. You could win a gastronomic trip to Gidleigh Park Hotel, including an overnight stay and morning in the prestigious two Michelin Star Kitchen of Michael Caines MBE, including a lunch for two.  All you need to do is email syo@cafedirect.co.uk a picture of a plant growing in an unusual object. Full details here.

Cafedirect Coffee Sack Challenge for the Women’s Institute

posted at 4:47pm, 24 Aug 10 by Alex [ 2 comments ]

We’ve teamed up with the Women’s Institute once again to create The Cafédirect Coffee Sack Challenge!

Cafédirect goes beyond just Fairtrade, and we care about being a leading sustainable business and are working hard to minimise our environmental footprint. This summer we’ve teamed up with Vintage guru and designer Wayne Hemingway to create our stylish eco-chic Container House. We have upcycled the shipping container itself, used pallet wood to create stylish cupboards, and reupholstered furniture with coffee sacks!

This inspired us to get busy upcycling coffee sacks in the office, and we’ve created everything from tea cozies to fancy dress clothing and plant growbags!

Double Deckchair and Coffee Sack planters at the Container House

We love working with the Women’s Institute because they share our values – and interest in giving coffee sacks a new lease of life. We’ve had an incredible response from WI groups up and down the country, we’ve already handed out all our Sew Your Own kits – that’s over 3,000 coffee sacks!!

Coffee Sack Tea Cosy

We’ve also enjoyed hearing about how they will be put to use – our favourite one so far being a scarecrow – closely followed by coffee sack pannier bags for the Women’s Institute Triathlon!

If your group has managed to acquire the coffee sacks for your WI and are in need of more information or inspiration then you can find everything you need at the friends section of our website. If you weren’t one of the lucky ones this time, we’re sorry, but you can sign up to our newsletter and be the first to know about our future campaigns.

For all those who manage to create something magnificent (and from past experience with the WI we’re expecting that’ll be everyone), we would really love to see your efforts, at any and every stage of development. You can email them to us at campaigns@cafedirect.co.uk or post them to our Facebook page yourself. The best photo will win a year’s supply of Cafédirect Everyday Tea for your WI group!

P.S. If you find all of this hungry work, then check out this delicious recipe . The chocolate should fuel your creativity!